The first ever exhibition in the Netherlands dedicated to the offshore sector will open in Rotterdam later this year.
The Maritime Museum’s Offshore Experience exhibition will provide visitors with a spectacular overview of the search for oil, gas, wind energy and renewables at sea.
It will open in mid-December and run for seven years.
More than 45 companies in the shipping and offshore sectors helped fund the initiative.
Using a film projection simulator, visitors will be able to experience what it is like to be on a platform in the middle of the sea.
Simulated presentations will illustrate how drillers, crane drivers, wind turbine specialists and helicopter pilots undertake their demanding tasks on the open sea, in a constant battle with the elements.
A lift will take visitors down to a mysterious undersea world, from just below the surface to a depth of 3kilometres.
Frits Loomeijer, general director of the Maritime Museum, said: “As the worldwide transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy continues apace, energy assumes increasing importance for the economy and is essential for everyday living.
“Without energy, we could not recharge our mobile phones, put fuel in our cars or cook our food.
“A lot of the energy comes from oil, gas or wind and is obtained offshore at sea.
“Dutch companies are in demand throughout the world for the expertise they can bring to complex high-tech offshore projects in the most dynamic conditions.
“After all, just how do you construct a wind turbine at sea?
“How do you position a 30,000-ton platform on the seabed, accurate to the centimetre?
“And how do you prevent gas leaks at 3 km depth?
“The question for the future is not whether we will be able to drill deeper or under increasingly difficult circumstances, but how we can be more sustainable.
“In a world where everyone has an opinion on energy, the Maritime Museum is offering its visitors a unique experience around energy production at sea, both now and in the future.”
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